SUMMARY
BGMI, a popular battle royale game like PUBG, was built exclusively for India by Krafton
The ban on BGMI comes a month after Krafton said that the game registered 100 Mn users in the country
The ban could have a larger impact on the overall gaming ecosystem, say experts
Shares of Krafton, developer of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) game, tumbled as much as 9% on the Korean stock exchange on Friday (July 29) after BGMI was taken down from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store in India.
Krafton shares ended the session 4.5% lower at 233,500 Korean won ($178.64).
BGMI, a popular battle royale game like PUBG, was built exclusively for India. However, reports started emerging on Thursday evening that the Google Play store and the App store removed the game after receiving orders from the government.
The ban on the game came two years after PUBG was banned in India along with several other Chinese apps.
The ban on BGMI comes within a month of Krafton saying that the game registered 100 Mn users in the country.
“We are positive about the opportunities in the country and are committed to creating a robust gaming ecosystem,” Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had said during the announcement earlier this month.
It is pertinent to note that the Indian government is yet to put out a public announcement about the BGMI ban.
News agency Reuters on Friday, quoting a government source, attributed the move to block the game to concerns over BGMI’s data sharing and mining in China.
Need For Regulatory Body
While an official statement is still awaited, if the game removal stays, it could be damaging for the Indian esports ecosystem, opined Sagar Nair, cofounder & CEO, Qlan, The Gamer’s Social Network.
“It’s not just about one game but with the kind of popularity, player base and viewership BGMI has, it is leading the biggest esports title in India,” said Nair. “This potential stay will hamper the whole esports ecosystem – consumers, businesses, stakeholders, jobs and much more. There is a large investment riding on startups, tournaments and game streaming, it’s a trickle effect waiting to happen.”
Rohit Agarwal, founder and director, Alpha Zegus said while the government has not released a statement, mobile games are becoming more unpredictable by the day.
“I hope a regulatory body comes into play which monitors the games over time, instead of banning them overnight,” Agarwal added.
Krafton, PUBG’s intellectual property rights holder, revoked its ties with China’s Tencent Games in India following the ban on the game in the country in 2020. Following that, Krafton launched BGMI in India.
Krafton claims to have invested nearly $100 Mn to improve India’s local video game, esports, and entertainment startups to build a healthy gaming start-up ecosystem.
The COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to the online gaming industry in India. As per a 2021 report, India had the second-largest number of online gamers after China by mid-2020.
The esports market in India is expected to reach a size of INR 11 Bn by FY25, according to an EY report.
